Attorney: Former AIM suspect need not testify

RAPID CITY, S.D. 
A key potential witness in the trial of a man accused in the decades-old slaying of an American Indian Movement activist risks his testimony later being used against him in tribal court, his attorney argued Monday.

Richard Marshall was accused of providing the gun used to kill Annie Mae Aquash, but he was found not guilty earlier this year. Now, prosecutors want him to testify at the trial of John Graham, who is accused of shooting Aquash in late 1975 and leaving her to die on South Dakota's Pine Ridge reservation.

Graham's trial is expected to start this week, and prosecutors have offered Marshall immunity to get him to testify. But Marshall's attorney, Dana Hanna, argued in a hearing Monday that whatever Marshall says in court could be used against him in tribal courts, which are separate from the state court system.

"Mr. Marshall has a legitimate fear," Hanna said.

Aquash's death has long been synonymous with the American Indian Movement and its violent clashes with federal authorities during the 1970s. Prosecutors have argued that AIM leaders ordered Graham and two other AIM members to kill Aquash because they thought she was a government spy.

Arlo Looking Cloud, who was convicted six years ago in connection with Aquash's death, has since testified that Marshall provided the .32-caliber pistol Graham used to kill Aquash. Marshall did not testify at his trial in April, and was acquitted of murder charges.

Marshall said he would exercise his Fifth Amendment right not to incriminate himself if called to the stand.

South Dakota Attorney General Marty Jackley replied that any of Marshall's testimony would be "tainted" in another courtroom.

Judge Jack Delaney said he also had concerns about whether Jackley's offer of immunity covered tribal courts.

"That would seem to be a significant problem if your grant of immunity would not extend that far," he said.

Jury selection began Monday in Graham's trial, which comes almost eight years after he was first indicted in Aquash's death. Delaney is expected to rule Tuesday on whether Marshall will have to testify. Opening statements are expected Wednesday.